"Business sure isn't what it was like 12 months ago," Mr. Kushner said.

Meanwhile, adjustable-rate mortgages, the most popular among consumers right now, rose an average of about 9 basis points to 5.66% across the nation, said Keith Gumbinger, an analyst with HSH Associates, Wayne, N.J.

"But marketplace competition is so severe, that ARMs will creep up, rather than jump up, over the next year," Mr. Gumbinger said.

On Aug. 16, the Fed raised its target for the rate at which banks make overnight loans to each other to 4.75% from 4.25%.

It also raised the rate at which it makes loans to banks to 4.0% from 3.5%.

But there has been "little improvement in fixed rates for 30-year loans, and a slight deterioration in one-year ARMS," Mr. Gumbinger said.